The Ride

I had just gotten off of work. It was a rough day at the office, 8 hours of nonstop paperwork can make anyone exhausted, so of course I was ready to go home. I got in my car and sighed. 'What a day,' I thought to myself. I sat motionless in my car for a while to relax before heading home. I knew it was getting late, however, and the clock in my car read 12:16 A.M., so I decided it was time to head home.
The drive was strange from the start. The roads were completley empty, which to some, may sound normal at nearly 12:30 in the morning, but I live in a more populated countryside, meaning that there was always at least a few cars on the road. I put it to the side, however, and decided to put on some music, but the radio wouldn't turn on. I couldn't quite figure out why it wouldn't work, considering my car is a newer model, and I've never had an issue with it prior. I found a spot on the road to pull over so I could check it out. It was a smaller stretch of road with plenty of stores and other smaller miscellaneous buildings parallel to it, and yet still had a few dead points in between sections of buildings where there was nothing but dense forest. I had pulled over about a quarter mile away from the nearest building on either side, meaning I was in the dark, with two mountain like geographical structures on either side of me. I used the light of my phone to guide me as I toyed around with the radio, and once I felt I had done enough, I attempted to start my car again, but to no avail. I looked down at my dash, where all the symbols such as the check engine light are located to make sure it wasn't an internal issue, and when I looked back up, the light from my headlights, which turned on upon turning the key only once without fully starting the car, illuminated a group of about 10 people standing in front of my car.
These were no ordinary people standing in front of the car. They were taller individuals, with the smallest one standing at roughly 6 feet and some change, and were all wearing matching black robes, which would have made them impossible to see at this point in the road without headlights. I opened my door and called out to them, "Don't you guys think it's a little late to be walking around the middle of the woods with dark clothes on? Someone's gonna come ripping through here and mow you all down." They said nothing in reply, and remained entirely motionless, each directly facing my car. I began to feel uneasy, and got back in my car to try and start it up once more. When I looked back up again, the men were now maybe 5 feet from my car. They had all advanced maybe 20 feet without making a sound. I was concerned now. I began to study them a bit more, and I realized that one of the men was missing. I had surely counted 10 guys no more than a minute ago, where could the one guy have went off to? Just then, I happened to hear a noise in the back of my car, and looked back using the rearview to see what made such a noise. I saw man, the one missing from my group, sitting in my back seat. How could he have gotten there? The doors didn't open or close at all, I was sure of it. Problem was, I didn't have much time to think. I was struck in the back of the head seconds later.
I woke up in the middle of nowhere, far in the woods, tied to a tree looking over a campfire. Standing around it in a circle were the hooded men, with their heads bowed, whispering what sounded like a chant. I tried to untie myself, but had made too much noise doing it, as all 10 men in unison picked their heads up to look at me. One of the men walked over to me, and shushed me. I was expecting something much worse, but the man had no intentions of hurting me it seemed. The man got back to the group, and they continued whispering chants. This went on for a few minutes, when I started to feel what I could only describe as an odd form of energy in the area. It gave me a bad vibe, but that's all I got out of it. The chants heightened in volume, and the flame grew. Suddenly, they ended their chant with a loud final word, which sounded like it was in Latin, and then they went silent. The bad energy seemed to manifest itself, as I clearly heard a loud growl-like noise from deeper into the woods. With that, the men in robes walked away, leaving me to rot. I tried to ask them what was going on, but recieved nothing in reply.
The growls got closer and closer, until I could finally make out what was creating them. It looked like a huge dog, who had some sort of Mange, or another disease. It had dark fur, with even darker skin underneath. It appeared to be near starving, with the thing's ribcage fully visible, and it limped as it walked closer to the fire, sniffing the air with every step. I attempted to untie myself again, and was nearly successful, when the animal finally detected me. It stopped dead in its tracks, and began to growl at me. This growl was unlike any I'd ever heard coke from a dog. It sounded like a distorted human's growl. It began to walk towards me slowly, its mouth dripping with saliva that, in the dark, appeared almost
like blood. The thing was now face to face with me, and man was it ugly. It cocked its neck from side to side, which created horrible cracking and snapping noises, and begin to howl in a distorted, cackling howl that no animal could ever produce. My adrenaline kicked in, and I kicked the thing. It hobbled back and stumbled into the fire. It began to wail in a horrific series of screeches. I used the time to untied myself, and when I was finally free, I ran in the direction that the men in robes walked off to.
After about 20 minutes of walking in the dense black forrest, I found what looked like the road. I began to run towards it, and when I finally reached it, I let out a sigh of relief. My car was just down the road, and the doors were still unlocked, so I was able to get in easily. The keys were still in the ignition, which I was grateful for. But I couldn't stay happy for long. I looked out of the front windshield and saw once again the men in the black robes, staring directly at my car. As I rushed to start the car, the loud, hideous sound of the dog like creature echoed through the forest. I thought I had killed it...nevertheless, when I turned the keys in the ignition, my car did not start.
I sit here now, helpless in my car with nothing to do but pray. I'm writing this in case something bad happens to me, meaning if you're reading this, I am already dead. I have to go now, the beast found my car, and the robed men are approaching...